Tea for Two
by Chello Blu
Summary: The virus hits america, brother and sister must fight rebel tribes, save their suicidal friends, and battle their own minds to survive.
1. Mini Skirts the Least of Our Problems

Tea for Two  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
Mini Skirts Are the Least of Our Problems  
  
It all started the night before Mora's first day of junior high. Her mom was so excited about seeing her baby girl finally become a woman that she completely forgot her older son, Giovanni even existed. This wasn't a problem for Gio however because he honestly wished he didn't exist, so the time away from his dear overbearing mother didn't faze him. Besides it was more fun to watch Mora be smothered by their mother.  
  
"Mora! Baby, look I just came back from Dillards! You know how much you adore the color pink? Well I bought you this lovely pink skirt and this white top with ruffles. And I thought maybe these suede boots and jacket would go nicely with that, what do you think?"  
  
Mora's mother wasn't exactly in tune with Mora's choice in style. In fact not only did Mora despise the color pink but also the idea of wearing a mini skirt made her want to hurl.  
  
"Mom, since when have I ever worn pink?"  
  
"Well, I believe you wore a lovely pink dress last Easter,"  
  
"Yeah, last Easter, when grandma gave it to me while she was practically on her death bed, I wasn't going to deny the woman her dying wish of humiliating me in that abomination,"  
  
"Young lady! If your grandmother could hear you now," Mrs. Teaman took a breath and sighed, "but thank goodness she didn't die, that was a close call,"  
  
"She was faking it, Mom," Gio chimed in.  
  
"Nevertheless, I think you look beautiful in pink Mora, and it's not just a baby color. I saw Trisha McCollins at the mall today and she had on a lovely pink valor jump suit. I thought to my self."  
  
As her mother droned on Mora simply rolled her eyes and sat at the dinner table. The Teaman's weren't really into family time so the TV in the kitchen served as a great distraction.  
  
".Scientists say that the virus is contained to the island of New Zealand. There is no need for panic. They are working on an antidote and it will be available to the inflicted very soon. In other news." the TV blared.  
  
"What do you think about that?" Gio asked Mora as he leaned across the table to help himself to another spoonful of mashed potatoes.  
  
"The nameless virus in New Zealand that only kills adults?" Gio nodded.  
  
"I think it's great, do you think there's a chance that Mom could catch it?" Gio cracked a smile, his first in a couple weeks. 


	2. So Far Away, Yet So Close

Chapter 2: So Far Away Yet So Close  
  
Mora and her brother never really spoke since his break down. In fact no one had really had a conversation with Giovanni since his breakdown. Gio really only kept to himself. He locked himself in his room, had his nose in a book or his fingers on the remote control. For the past five months his only friends had been books and cheesy television sitcoms.  
  
"Gio," Mora began as she stood there watching him watch the dust particles float above his face as he lie there on the bed looking up at the ceiling, "Gio."  
  
"Yeah? It's midnight. Go to bed. You've got school," Gio didn't even have to look at the clock. He had and impeccable sense of time.  
  
"So, Gio you can't tell me what to do. I wanted to talk to you about something,"  
  
Gio sat up and looked at his sister. She was dressed in her usual black and gray. Gray beater, black pajama pants with some sort of cartoon all over it. She had navy blue flip-flops on and for some reason her arms were covered in nearly every bracelet she owned. Gio never understood how she could sleep like that but he didn't really care. "Come on, sit down. I wasn't going to sleep anyway. Up for a little Crash Team Racing?" He turned on the Play Station.  
  
"Yeah sure!" Mora's face lit up as she sat next to Gio on his bed and grabbed a controller.  
  
"Mom's getting a little over zealous isn't she?" Gio asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah she's way out of control. I'm not wearing that stupid outfit," Mora paused. School wasn't what she wanted to talk about, "I was watching the 11 o'clock news,"  
  
"Ooookay.and?" Gio raised his right eyebrow, he did that all the time and at time instigated his little sister to violence. But Mora was far too tired for violence so her mood settled on sheer annoyance.  
  
"So, that virus thing, you know, that we were talking about at dinner?"  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
"It got worse, they can't stop it,"  
  
"So?"  
  
"So, they say it's already spread to Australia and adults, people over the age of around 20 are getting really sick. They showed all these pictures of really old people, but they say that they're not really old. That they've just caught the virus and some of them are as young as 23!" Mora's voice was starting to break, tears began to well up in her eyes.  
  
"Breath," Mora took a breath, "Okay, now lets think about this," Gio paused the game and set down his controller, "People are catching this thing in New Zealand and Australia right?"  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
"On the other side of the world,"  
  
"Yeah, but."  
  
"It's spreading, I know, however we have nothing to worry about. I know that sounds really selfish but it's true. Those scientist will have this all figured out before it's too late. So don't bug out about it," Gio looked into Mora's eyes. Both Gio and Mora were half Puerto Rican and black. They're grandmother had these amazing hazel eyes that Mora inherited. Mora just happened to inherit every good physical quality that their families could possess. But as far as mentally, well, both of the Teaman children were far from well adjusted.  
  
"Thanks Gio. Are you gonna drive me to school tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah, just wake me up 10 minutes before it's time to leave, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Mora sat there for a minute, looking at the frozen screen, "I don't want Mom to catch that virus Gi,"  
  
"I know, I know," 


	3. Please, Just Hold On

Chapter 3: It has begun...  
  
Mora was awaken the next day by her cat, Varjak, licking her nose affectionately. She opened her eyes and lifted her arms in front of her face. She'd slept on her arms again and the bracelets left so many indents on her arms that they hid the scars from the cuts she'd given herself the week before. Varjak nestled her arms and his warmth made her smile. The smile quickly vanished, however, when she realized it was the first day of school. She turned over on her stomach and looked at the clock on her bed stand.  
  
"HOLY!...WOAH...11o'clock! WHAT THE?!"  
  
She sprang out of bed immediately and shot out of her pajama pants, she grabbed a sweater and pulled it on over her gray beater. She rolled over to the other side of the bed and grabbed a wrinkled pair of dark blue jeans. She was trying to pull them on when she heard a knock at the door.  
  
"Mora, are you awake?" Gio called, as he slowly opened the door. As if on cue, Mora fell right over.  
  
"Yeah." she groaned.  
  
Gio sighed, he didn't know exactly how to tell her what was going on, "Mora, listen, school was cancelled. You can go back to bed."  
  
Mora sprang up onto her feet, her eyes huge, and her face flushed, "Cancelled? Are you serious? For what? What happened? Did someone die? Did it blow up? What?"  
  
Gio sat down on her bed and patted the space next to him, "Sit down, we need to talk,"  
  
Mora looked at her brother with a puzzled look on her face. She put on her pants and sat down. She looked at him intently as she pulled her dark brown braids into a ponytail.  
  
"Mora, the virus, it spread like wild fire, over night. They're saying that we may not have more than a week before..." he stopped, his eyes were red, and couldn't go on.  
  
Mora sat in silence, her eyes filling with tears. She got up and ran out of the room, "MOM! MOM!!..MOM where are you?" she ran into her parents bedroom. She stopped short at the doorway. What she saw made her want to throw up. Her mother was laying there, her hair was gray and her once perfectly brown, supple skin, was now wrinkled, and had taken on a grayish tint. Mora legs went weak, and she started to shake.  
  
"Mom, I..."  
  
"No, Mora, come here, just be with me, darling,"  
  
Mora walked slowly to her parent's bed and crawled in, and almost immediately started to cry uncontrollably. 


End file.
